COP30 made a meaningful, though imperfect, breakthrough on adaptation. By establishing a set of indicators to assess adaptation progress and by calling for more adaptation finance, the summit laid the foundation for more robust global adaptation implementation and monitoring. However, these commitments only hold value if they are enacted. If we see follow-through, we could see finance being mobilised, money reaching vulnerable countries, and improved resilience.
THE GOOD
- 59 Global Adaptation indicators (Belém Adaptation Indicators) were adopted through the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) decision to help measure adaptation progress.
- The conference encouraged countries to integrate the Belém Adaptation Indicators into their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Adaptation Communications, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs), and National Communications.
- The decision recognises the role of these indicators in informing national tracking systems, supporting transparency, and feeding into the Global Stocktake (GST).
- The decision notes that these indicators should not create new financial or reporting commitments or standardise global methodologies.
- Parties agreed to continue working to improve the indicators that were adopted and develop mandates to operationalise these.
- Through the Belém-Addis Vision on Adaptation (2026–2028) parties will work to align the adopted indicators with policy processes to operationalise indicators.
- The Belém Indicators will be reviewed after the second Global Stocktake (2029).
- Parties emphasised the need for increased financial and technical support to developing countries to implement and report progress on the adopted indicators.
- Parties agreed to increase support for reporting of information relating to the adopted indicators.
- The Global Environment Facility, Green Climate Fund, and Adaptation Fund have been invited to support developing countries in implementing the United Arab Emirates Framework for Global Climate Resilience, and aligning it with national adaptation plans and monitoring systems.
- Parties agreed that the Baku Adaptation Roadmap will continue in a phased approach.
- The Baku Adaptation Roadmap will focus on implementing the GGA in line with Article 7 of the Paris Agreement.
- The first phase (2026–2028) will include two workshops per year (one in-session and one intersessional) and a technical paper prepared by the secretariat.
- Parties called for a tripling of Adaptation Finance for developing countries by 2035.
- Developed countries have been urged to increase climate finance provided for adaptation to developing countries.
THE BAD
- Lack of clarity on the finance amount that is to be tripled for adaptation, and how much of this finance is to be provided or mobilised by developed countries.
- Lack of a clear plan or timeline on how further work on the indicators will be completed to fully operationalise the Adopted Indicator List, particularly with regards to the technical work on metadata and standard methodologies for calculating these global indicators.
- No clear structure of how the information from the GGA indicators and targets will be synthesised for tracking global adaptation progress, including the role of non-party stakeholders in the reporting and synthesis for GGA.
- Many GGA indicators put forward by technical experts under the UAE–Belem work programme were adapted by Parties in ways that make them less measurable, and thus some important elements of the GGA targets still lack indicators.
